The charity of a teacher in the highlands

After graduating from the College of Preschool Education, the young teacher Le Thi Quang (born in 1975) packed her bags and moved from Con Cuong to Tuong Duong to take up her job. Ms. Quang was assigned to Luu Kien Kindergarten, about 20 km from the district center. In the early 90s of the last century, the roads were still very bumpy, and the lives of people in the highlands were extremely difficult. At that time, her school was roofed with thatch and covered with bamboo.

After several years of staying with the villages along the Kien stream, thanks to her solid expertise, Ms. Le Thi Quang was assigned to work as a specialist at the Department of Education. For more than 20 years, Ms. Quang has always closely followed the teaching activities of kindergartens to advise on solutions to improvequality of educationand help and train colleagues to improve their professional skills. The work is quiet but extremely important.

Having been attached to the remote area of ​​Tuong Duong for nearly 30 years, Ms. Le Thi Quang has made important contributions to the development of preschool education. Photo: Dinh Tuan

In 2018, Ms. Le Thi Quang was transferred to become Vice Principal of Xa Luong Kindergarten. Everything started from scratch, what worried her most was that after 20 years, she would encounter difficulties and confusion. But then, with her enthusiasm, dedication and support from colleagues, Ms. Quang affirmed her own capacity, contributing to bringing the Lam River Source Kindergarten to National Standard Level 1.

When mentioning Ms. Le Thi Quang, colleagues, many students and parents immediately think of the "volunteer teacher". Since becoming Vice Principal, she has made many efforts to call for help to help students have delicious meals and warm clothes in the cold winter, so that the school has enoughfacilitiesfor children to learn…

Ms. Quang shared: “There are still many shortages here, I have asked for an old pump to pump water so that the teachers don’t have to carry each can for use; asked for old clothes so that the students can wear enough warmth in the winter; asked for old tires to build the school embankment to prevent landslides and mobilized parents to support more food to increase the children’s nutrition. When they understand my purpose, if possible, my relatives and friends are willing to help and share.”

Ms. Le Thi Quang always thinks and researches to improve the quality of teaching activities in kindergarten. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Na Be and Hop Thanh schools are nearly 15km away from the main school, precariously located along the Ang stream, so during the rainy season, landslides often occur, and the soil is filled in and eroded again during the following rainy season. Determined to keep the classroom and ensure the safety of the students, Ms. Quang contacted friends in Vinh and Hoang Mai town, asked for 500 old car tires and asked them to transport them for free to build a negative embankment. Thanks to that, the school campus no longer had landslides during the last rainy season.

The children's playground had some damaged equipment, Ms. Quang selected good materials and asked for some more, then asked the leaders of Nam Non Hydropower Plant to have mechanical workers repair and renew. Finally, the playground was completed, meeting the criteria.National Standard School, saving the school tens of millions of dong.

Keep the passion

Through Facebook and her relationships with friends, Ms. Le Thi Quang has called on organizations, volunteer groups and benefactors to help the school and students with gifts and cash worth hundreds of millions of VND. Therefore, colleagues and parents often call Ms. Quang "volunteer teacher", this title has said all the heart of the female teacher in the highlands.

Ms. Le Thi Quang always cares about her students and is willing to help those in especially difficult circumstances. Photo: Dinh Tuan

In the 2020-2021 school year, Ms. Le Thi Quang mobilized financial and material support for the school worth more than 456 million VND, and in the 2021-2022 school year, nearly 300 million VND; not to mention mobilizing parents to support hundreds of millions of VND to build small projects and purchase teaching equipment for children.separate schooland purchase supplies for boarding children.

In particular, in July 2021, the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong), the entire village had to be locked down to control the epidemic, the life of the Khmu people here, which was already difficult and arduous, became even more deprived. Faced with the difficulties of the villagers, through her personal Facebook account, Ms. Quang called on the online community to support money and goods with a total value of 150 million VND.

Ms. Le Thi Quang (far right) gives support gifts to the Fatherland Front Committee of Tuong Duong district to deliver to the people of Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune. Photo: Dinh Tuan

With the money raised, Ms. Quang used it to buy hand sanitizer, masks, protective gear and other medical supplies to give to the forces on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic. The other items were handed over to the District Fatherland Front Committee to be delivered to the people of Cham Puong village who are facing shortages and difficulties during the lockdown.

Having been attached to Tuong Duong since her hair was still green, teacher Le Thi Quang has achieved many noble titles, especially being awarded Certificates of Merit twice by the Minister of Education and Training; once by the Vietnam Education Trade Union and 5 times receiving Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Ms. Le Thi Quang received a Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for Outstanding Teacher in the period 1982 - 2022. Photo: Cong Khang

Ms. Quang confided: “The economic and social life is gradually improving, but compared to the average of the whole province, the life of the people of Tuong Duong is still difficult, and children are still suffering many disadvantages. In the next stage, although my health has begun to decline, I will try to maintain my enthusiasm for the job, and devote all my love to the children…”.